12-YEAR-OLD schoolgirl Khadaija Edwards’ death, after she was knocked down by a TT Regiment vehicle on Thursday night at Morvant Junction, has left her Beetham Gardens relative in a state of deep shock.

“I was holding her hand, but she pulled away,” said Edwards’ mother Tessa Robinson, 41, as she tearfully recalled her child’s last moments during an interview yesterday at her Phase 5, Beetham Gardens home.

Edwards, a Belmont Secondary School student, was walking with her mother after attending service at Jesus the Lamb Church on Third Avenue in Barataria. “I was accustomed to walking home from church and Kadaija always used to tell me not to walk with traffic at my back. So I decided to try to cross the road,” Robinson said.

As they were walking they saw an opportunity to cross the Priority Bus Route as a maxi taxi stopped adjacent to the Toyota showroom at the intersection. Robinson admitted knowing that the traffic light was on green when she decided to cross. Police reports indicated that the two were crossing north to south along the PBR. When they were crossing, Robinson noticed a vehicle which pulled up behind the maxi taxi.

“It stopped behind the maxi for just a second then it swerved out,” Robinson said. The two who were already crossing along the PBR tried to dodge the oncoming TT Regiment vehicle which ran over Khadaija in front of her shocked mother. Khadaija died on the spot.

Despite the light being on green, Robinson who is a mother of three said the driver of the Regiment vehicle drove recklessly. Investigations are continuing.